Pushover
by The Crow and the Butterfly
Summary: That’s how things went with Yukari. And strangely, she didn’t mind. Drabble.


A useless drabble. Not quite romance, but maybe if you look at it a certain way. Enjoy.

* * *

When Minamo Kurosawa was five, she went to the zoo with her mother. Though she had been expected to marvel over the pandas and tigers and elephants and whatnot, she had been drawn to the petting zoo, which featured decidedly ordinary animals. And within that petting zoo, she suddenly became hell-bent on cuddling the rabbit. Of all the animals in the entire zoo, the rabbit.

Granted, it had been a handsome rabbit. It was a lovely chocolaty sable color, and its fur looked as soft as her mother's cashmere sweater that she loved to parade around the house in every now and then. It looked up from its carrot snack, and hopped ever so gracefully towards her outstretched hand.

And then, it chomped sharply on her finger.

She had learned two things from that outing, lessons she would carry through life. One, she was attracted to the commonplace as opposed to the exciting and unusual. Two, that tendency would usually come back to bite her in the butt. That rabbit would forever remain a childish analogy for Yukari Tanizaki. A sweet, welcoming thing before she opened her mouth, but a deadly weapon once she did.

Yukari had her own methods of torture. Instead of literally biting anyone, she could delve into the archives of embarrassing moments from Minamo's awkward adolescence, and shove a failed relationship back into her face. Her best friend was the only one who still remembered that she had worn huge, ugly eighties-style glasses until she was brave enough to complain (and still had pictures to prove it), the one who could rehash her entire romantic history without breaking a sweat, and the one who still called her Nyamo in public. She was twenty-seven years old. Nyamo. Seriously.

Admittedly, Yukari wasn't doing so hot in the romance department either. She was in her late twenties, lived with her mother, went certifiably insane once she had had a drop too much alcohol, and acted like either a six-year-old or a PMS-ing teenager the rest of the time. In fact, Yukari had never had a boyfriend as far as she could recall. Not most people's ideal woman. She was far from a virgin, she knew that much, but she had never had a serious relationship. Now that was something Nyamo could shove in her face.

And why didn't she? Because she was a pushover, and she knew it.

That's right. Yukari Tanizaki had her completely under her power and she couldn't break it off if she tried. It had always been that way, and unless she suddenly got confidence, poise, and possibly a sex tape or something, it would always be that way. That's just how it was. That's how things went with Yukari.

But, now that she thought about it, it wasn't that much of a problem after all.

Minamo caught herself smiling fondly down into her coffee, idly stirring it into a slow whirl. She was shaken abruptly out of her thoughts by someone pounding loudly in lieu of the doorbell.

"Dammit, Nyamo, open the freaking door!"

She got up to let Yukari in, greeting her cheerfully.

"What's up with you?" Yukari asked suspiciously. "You seem weird."

"Do I?"

"Yeah. Well, whatever." Yukari brushed off the subject lightly. "I'm gonna crash here for a couple days, okay." She peeked into the refrigerator. "You're going to need to stock up on juice. You're almost out." Yukari upended the carton and more red liquid than she had expected splashed onto the floor. "Whoops."

Minamo heaved a sigh and went to go fetch the mop from the back of her hall closet. She probably should have just kicked Yukari out before she could do anything, but she didn't. Of course she didn't.

That's how things went with Yukari. And strangely, she didn't mind.

* * *

I got the Azumanga Daioh omnibus last Christmas, and it's taken me that long to finish this. I've had other projects, and didn't really have a clear idea of where this was going, so decided to cut it off here. I hope it was okay... I don't spend much time over here in the Azumanga fandom, so I don't really know how this'll fit in with the rest.

-Cheers, TCATB


End file.
